The present invention relates to a remote facility agnostic system and a diagnostic method thereof; more particularly, the invention relates to a remote facility agnostic system and a diagnostic method for use when the manufacturer and the user of a facility, such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, are different. In this specification, xe2x80x9cfacilityxe2x80x9d means not only a manufacturing facility, such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but also a combination of apparatus or components, such as a large-scale medical system.
Recently, a variety of apparatus equipped with a remote diagnostic function, using the Internet and the like, have been proposed. For example, Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 10-40200 (1998) discloses a remote diagnostic function which transfers various kinds of data set by a terminal station to a piece of remote diagnostic equipment in a center station of a service company to ask the center station to start a remote diagnosis according to the data sent from the terminal station, and the terminal station then receives new corrected data.
Further, this Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 10-40200 (1998) also discloses a method of troubleshooting an apparatus connected to a terminal in a computer network or an apparatus including said terminal as a technology which enables initialization, troubleshooting, data update, and so on of said apparatus. A system using this technology is so constructed that said apparatus may send its status data to said terminal, that said terminal may transfer the received status data to a server on the Internet, and that said server may diagnose said apparatus according to the received status data and return the result of diagnosis to said terminal.
Such a remote diagnostic system must be protected against unauthorized accesses from the outside. If said system is not protected, confidential data of the provider and the user of said remote diagnostic function may be read involuntarily.
Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 9-149188 (1997) aims to provide a remote diagnostic system for communication equipment which is protected against unauthorized accesses. In said remote diagnostic system, the apparatus in the center station is equipped with a data generation means which creates data from an ID number set by an apparatus in the terminal station and sends the created data to the apparatus in the terminal station. Further, the apparatus in the terminal station is equipped with means for setting and sending an ID number to said apparatus in the center station, means for analyzing received data, and diagnosis control means for enabling or disabling the remote diagnosis.
Another known remote diagnostic system comprises apparatuses connected to a LAN, an information processing unit, and diagnostic equipment on a network. Each apparatus is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. In this case, since said information processing unit and said diagnostic equipment are connected in parallel to the LAN, not only the maintenance and diagnostic equipment, but also other equipment can access the information processing unit. Therefore, user data may be easily accessed by third parties. To solve such a problem, Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 9-149188 (1997) discloses a remote maintenance and diagnosis system wherein the maintenance and diagnostic equipment which is connected to the information processing unit to monitor the operating status of the system has a network connection function and an autonomous network function, such as a monitoring and analyzing function, and said information processing unit is connected to the network by said maintenance and diagnostic equipment. This system improves the system security and reduces the system installation cost.
As the technologies become more advanced and more complicated, it becomes harder for a single company to manufacture and manage a large-scale facility, such as a semiconductor manufacturing line, which comprises various semiconductor manufacturing units dedicated for each semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, for high-precision diagnosis and quick repair of such large-scale facilities, it is necessary to collect information about the related manufacturers, users, and the maintenance of the facilities from companies and so on.
However, these kinds of information include confidential data of the companies. Therefore, provision of such information is highly limited. The recent facilities for production and management have been more and more centralized and intensive. If a semiconductor manufacturing line, for example, is disabled, it is very urgent to investigate the cause of the trouble and repair the line. If this emergency measure is delayed, economic losses may be greater.
Further, it is preferable to estimate possible failures in such facilities in advance and take some steps before they actually occur. This is the best way to prevent economic losses.
However, it takes much time to collect or create data required for diagnosis of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. For example, we cannot directly determine the life of a pressure gauge (or required calibration timing of the gauge) because it is dependent upon the operating conditions and environment. Naturally, it is sometimes impossible for the manufacturer of said semiconductor manufacturing equipment to provide a fast and high-precision diagnostic program for the equipment from the beginning. Usually, faster and higher precision diagnostic programs will be provided by the manufacturer after the facility is installed.
It is assumed that the use of a highly analytical result, such as the use of statistical analysis and optical analysis (OES) and a plasma impedance monitor (PIM) will be very useful to jobs such as detection of process changes and adjustment of machine differences which have been conducted by customer""s engineers. In other words, these kinds of data indicating the status of semiconductor manufacturing equipment are essential to the users, but have not been used for conventional diagnosis of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. If these kinds of highly analytical data are made available to the users, efficient diagnoses will be possible. In this case, the users are requested to partially pay for development of this kind of highly analytical diagnosis software.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system and a remote diagnostic method which have the aim of both high security of information and prevention of economic losses in remote diagnosis of facilities.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an environment which can present diagnostic programs of higher function and higher quality to the user even after the facilities are installed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system and a remote diagnostic method which estimates possible failures in facilities in advance and takes some steps before they actually occur so as to prevent the economic losses due to such failures.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system and a method thereof, which enables the users to carry out with high-reliability diagnoses using highly analytical data, and further eases the economical burden on the developer of the diagnostic software.
The present invention is characterized by a remote diagnostic system for semiconductor manufacturing equipment which diagnoses user""s semiconductor manufacturing equipment connected to a piece of diagnostic equipment which is provided by a third party through a communication network. Said diagnostic equipment comprises at least one diagnostic program which diagnoses said semiconductor manufacturing equipment and a control section which starts said diagnostic program when accessed by a specific user terminal that has been given an access right. Said terminal sends data which is requested by said diagnostic equipment for diagnosis and receives a result of diagnosis from said diagnostic equipment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system for diagnosing a facility under the control of a first company by using a piece of diagnostic equipment of a second company, which is not under the control of said first company, wherein said diagnostic program comprises at least one diagnostic program which diagnoses said facility and a control section which starts said diagnostic program when accessed by a specific user terminal that has been given an access right, and wherein said terminal sends data which is requested by said diagnostic equipment for diagnosis and receives a result of diagnosis from said diagnostic equipment.
The present invention can provide a remote diagnostic system which aims to achieve both high security of information and prevention of economic losses in the remote diagnosis of facilities.
A more particular object of the invention is to provide a remote diagnostic system for semiconductor manufacturing equipment which diagnoses semiconductor manufacturing equipment connected to a piece of diagnostic equipment which is provided by a third party through a communication network; wherein said diagnostic equipment comprises a plurality of diagnostic programs which diagnose said semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a control section which starts a diagnostic program when accessed by a specific user that has been given an access right, and a guidance section which displays information about said diagnostic programs.
The present invention can provide an environment which can present diagnostic programs of higher function and higher quality to the user even after facilities are installed.
The present invention is further characterized in that said diagnostic program comprises a periodic diagnosis program which periodically diagnoses said semiconductor manufacturing equipment, an abnormal mode diagnosis program which temporarily diagnoses said semiconductor manufacturing equipment when said semiconductor manufacturing equipment has a problem, and a troubleshooting program which diagnoses when the problem of said semiconductor manufacturing equipment is partially located.
The present invention can provide a remote diagnosing system and a remote diagnosing method which can estimate possible failures in such facilities in advance and take some steps before they actually occur using said periodic diagnosis program. The present invention is effective to prevent the economic losses of facilities.
The present invention is further characterized in that a remote diagnostic system for semiconductor manufacturing equipment which diagnoses user""s semiconductor manufacturing equipment connected together with a terminal to a piece of diagnostic equipment which is provided by a third party through a communication network, comprises at least one diagnostic program which diagnoses said semiconductor manufacturing equipment and a control section which starts said diagnostic program when accessed by a specific user terminal given an access right, and wherein a user terminal having a right to use said diagnostic equipment, given by said specific third party for a charge, sends data which is requested by said diagnostic equipment for diagnosis and receives a result of diagnosis from said diagnostic equipment.
The present invention is further characterized in that a remote diagnostic system for semiconductor manufacturing equipment which diagnoses semiconductor manufacturing equipment connected to a piece of diagnostic equipment which is provided by a third party through a communication network, comprises a plurality of diagnostic programs which diagnose said semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a control section which starts said diagnostic program when accessed by a specific user that has been given an access right for a charge, and a guidance section which displays information about said diagnostic programs.
The present invention is further characterized in that, in a remote diagnostic system for semiconductor manufacturing equipment which diagnoses user""s semiconductor manufacturing equipment connected together with a terminal to a piece of diagnostic equipment which is provided by a third party through a communication network, the diagnostic program starts when a specific user, having a right to access said diagnostic equipment for a charge, requests the user to send additional data required for the diagnosis, and diagnoses the semiconductor manufacturing equipment according to the answer from the user.
There are three types of fee-based contracts as shown below.
1) Company A (as an equipment manufacturer) sells Company B (as the user) a right to use the diagnostic equipment (including hardware and software). Company B uses the diagnostic equipment to diagnose Company B""s semiconductor equipment.
2) In the above fee-based contract 1), Company B accesses the diagnostic equipment installed in Company A through a communication network.
3) In the above fee-based contract 1), Company B accesses the diagnostic equipment loaned from Company A through an intranet (MES etc.) of Company B.
The present invention can provide a remote diagnostic system and a method thereof which enables the users to carry out highly-reliable diagnoses using highly analytical data and further eases the economic burden on the developer of the diagnostic software.